LMPS: Let my People Stay

[Ricardo]

Spending patterns are most definitely different.

I remember noting how in Boston, PuertoRicans did not mind living in a rented rat hole and driving an old chevy. BUT at least every other month they would plunk down easily several hundred dollars going out to dance, new clothes, expensive tickets, and paint the town red.

Meanwhile, their Anglosaxon co-workers would be living in the suburbs, in their own home, huge mortgage, with just enough extra money to go to MacDonald's every other month.

Is one better that the other? Not sure. just different.

I would like to see a solid study about the money remittances sent back to their families where they came from. If we assume that. say, 5 million immigrants send $200/week to Mexico and Central America, how does that compare with the rest of the national economy. Quite frankly, considering the millions that the Walmarts and the rest of the national chains take out of the local economy each day, my gut feeling is that the remittance numbers are pretty insignificant in the overall picture.

[Ricardo]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-ga...ino-voices

How Journalists Use Hate for Profit, by Charles Garcia


Wetbacks. Beaners. Spics. Illegals. Illegal aliens. Illegal immigrants.

The brain hears: Undesirable. Repulsive. Un-American. Criminals. Invaders. Expel.

These hate words spread like a poison triggering fear and resentment that America is under attack and that we live in a dangerous place.

Few people know how to exploit the scientific advances in our knowledge of the brain to trigger specific emotional responses better than pollster Frank Luntz. In October 2005, he issued a 25-page secret memorandum that would radically distort public perception of the immigration debate. It was so widely adopted by media pundits and politicians that you can almost hear Mitt Romney parroting the words and phrases from the memorandum on the campaign trail.

Luntz said talk about "border security" because after 9/11 this "argument does well among all voters - even hardcore Democrats" as it conjures up fears of terrorists. And this advice, sure to promote fear and hate: "This is about overcrowding of YOUR schools, emergency room chaos in YOUR hospitals, the increase in YOUR taxes, and the crime in YOUR communities."

In his book, "Words that Work," Luntz explains how a phrase repeated over and over can permanently label someone. For example "never say undocumented worker, instead say illegal immigrant" because this generates negative connotations.

These racial slurs and offensive, hate-language not only frame Latinos as criminals, they also subconsciously call up the sheriff Joe Arpaio in all of us, rather than the Good Samaritan.

In 2010, University of South Carolina journalism professor Sei-hill Kim and Auburn University professor John Carvalho researched newspaper articles and television transcripts between 1997 and 2006 and found the terms illegal alien, illegal immigrant, or just plain illegals are everywhere on television, in newspapers, and on talk radio. They also discovered journalists attracted the largest audiences with crime stories, so linking immigrants to a crime drama was preferred because it increased ratings and profits.

This sleazy practice was confirmed by Fox News host Geraldo Rivera who recently urged his colleagues to drop these biased and racial epithets, charging that media companies "are making a killing demonizing undocumented immigrants" because few issues work so well for ratings in cable news and talk radio.

In the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the landmark Arizona immigration case on June 25th Justice Kennedy, writing for the majority, joined by Chief Justice Roberts and three other justices made clear that foreign nationals residing unlawfully in the U.S. are not -- and never have been -- criminals. They are subject to deportation, through a civil procedure where judges have wide discretion to allow them to remain here. The Court also ruled that it was not a crime to seek or engage in unauthorized employment. Groundbreaking also was what the Court omitted: the biased and racially charged words "illegal immigrants" and "illegal aliens," except when quoting other sources.

While most Americans believe the majority of foreign nationals here sneak across our southern border in the middle of the night, the reality is that almost half of them enter the U.S. with a valid visa and just overstay, becoming "out of status". Many go to school, find a job, get married, and start a family.

Many migrants do sneak across the border.

Jose Gutierrez was orphaned when he was 8, forced to fight for survival in a dangerous slum outside Guatemala City. Jose was desperate to stay alive and he made a harrowing 3,000 mile trek by foot and train to America. This economic refugee was sustained by his strong faith in God, and gratefully received sanctuary in a foster home in California. He graduated from high school and was studying architecture at Harbor Community College where he was recruited to play soccer. But things changed for him after Sept. 11, when he told his foster sister "From what I've seen Saddam has to be confronted. It's my job. It's also my duty." Jose enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez was killed in a tank battle, the first combat solider to die in Iraq. For his bravery he was awarded American citizenship posthumously. There are another 38,000 soldiers in American uniforms - mostly Latinos - who are not American citizens. President Obama in a private White House ceremony yesterday to commemorate the July 4th holiday swore in twenty-five new citizens, all members of the armed forces, including ten Latinos.

The reason journalists get away with dehumanizing Latinos with coded hate language for profit lies in large part on the Associated Press Stylebook which is the media industry bible for the appropriate use of language. Since 2004, AP directs the media to use "illegal immigrant" as the most "accurate and neutral" term.

Suggesting that "illegal immigrant" is accurate and neutral is like Chief Justice William Rehnquist defending his use of the term "wetbacks" for Mexican children. He once argued with a shocked Justice Thurgood Marshall that this racial slur still carried "currency in his part of the country." Rehnquist practiced law in Phoenix for sixteen years.

Not surprisingly the 19-member board of directors of the Associated Press doesn't have a single Latino on its board. If it did, I'm sure management would be chastised for the use of "illegal immigrant" which is not only inaccurate and biased but highly offensive.

Why does any of this matter? Because words can be loaded guns.

In May 2011, Juan Varela was in his front yard in Phoenix when he was shot by his white neighbor yelling "Go back to Mexico or die!" Juan was a fifth-generation American.

In May 2010, in an Arizona border town, Raul Flores and his nine-year-old daughter Brisenia were gunned down in their house by a Minuteman vigilante group. Both were natural born U.S. citizens. After she witnessed the group murder her father, the frightened little girl begged "Please don't shoot me." Brisenia's head was blown off at point blank range in front of her mother, who survived the attack.

In November 2008, in Long Island, N.Y., seven white teenagers admitted to the perverse sport of "beaner hopping." One of the known victims was Marcelo Lucero who was waiting for a train around midnight. They terrorized him with racial slurs, and then beat and stabbed him to death. Marcelo was a church going Ecuadorian migrant working at a local dry cleaner to help feed his family.

While the media has made Trayvon Martin a household name did you ever hear of Juan Varela, Raul and Brisenia Flores, or Marcelo Lucero?

According to the FBI, hate crimes increased toward Latinos rose from 45 percent in 2009 to 66 percent in 2010. Keep in mind that most hate crimes go unreported.

How many more Latinos need to be shot and beaten to death before the Associated Press -- sitting there like the three monkeys who "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" -- take the target off the backs of innocent Latinos?

Post originally appeared on Fox News Latino

[bean]

Ricardo, good post.
Immigrant Latinos are constantly marginalized in our culture and a lot of it starts with the media.

This sign, found at a tea party rally, speaks volumes about the issue.



A wedge issue, cooked up by conservatives to get people all riled up so they vote against their own economic interests. Pretty much what it is. When people hold up signs insisting we "respect ARE country and speak English"--they are denying the reality that hispanic culture was here hundreds of years before most of us were...

[C_Fresh]

Quote:While most Americans believe the majority of foreign nationals here sneak across our southern border in the middle of the night, the reality is that almost half of them enter the U.S. with a valid visa and just overstay, becoming "out of status". Many go to school, find a job, get married, and start a family.

If this is true, we could make a serious dent in illegal immigration by just letting them become legal again. I don't know exactly how the visa process works so it might not be feasable. Here's how I see it working...

In 2013, any person with an expired visa may present themselves for an automatic renewal/exension. Stipulations would be that they must be fingerprinted and checked for a criminal history. Also verification that they were originally granted a visa. Maybe some other stuff like be issued a photo ID but that's all that springs to mind right offhand. If five million people take advantage of this, it would mean processing 20,000 people per federal work day (250/yr) across the entire country. And in a year we just eliminated 5,000,000 illegal immigrants!

I'm sure there are a lot of things to work out to make this happen but since we're looking for answers I thought this could serve as a starting point.



As to the term 'illegal immigrant'. I agree that illegal does not equal criminal according to the Supreme Court. I believe that it is still an accurate term though a negative one. Consider that talking on a cellphone while driving is illegal in my state. I am an illegal cell phone user if I do so but am not guilty of a criminal act.

[lucrezaborgia]

In South Florida, there are very few Mexicans and even fewer 'boat' illegals. Most people I met were here on a tourist visa. They would pay for their stay and ticket back by working illegally for a few months. Some people overstayed because they had not made enough money to fly back or something else came up.

BTW, Cubans are not illegal even though they enter our country illegally. Once they step foot on dry land they are legal and given many special benefits. You could always tell who had just gotten here by their clothes, spending habits, and lack of English.

[Ricardo]

How about something like a "Good Casa-keeping Seal of Approval" program, so that we can certify that the vegetables we buy at the store have not been touched by removable immigrant hands?

[myotch]

How about:

Promisa

We believe in the promise of America, where one can work hard and enjoy the fruits of one's labor.

We believe in the promise of America, where one has rights and those rights are protected.

We believe in the promise of America, the land of opportunity.

Sadly, the countries where we come from cannot promise us rights, fair reward, or opportunity.

We come here for that promise.

Give us your tired, your poor, humble spirits yearning to be free. Those words at the Statue of Liberty are the hope immigrants who come here. In our home countries, we are the tired and poor, workers who have no reward, and we find ourselves humbled and desperate for freedom.

So we come here, yes, impatient at the red tape, paperwork, and costs because we don't have the time or resources to get to the point where we can provide services for you, services that American's largely do not wan't to provide for themselves. We are servants, farmers and harvesters, professional and skilled tradesmen who build and maintain your structures.

We understand why we are not welcome by some. But we are not a burden. The fact is, we need you, and you need us, too.

[Ricardo]

Thanks!

When I talk to immigrants, here in Portland, ME, who, when caught for the fourth time by the border patrol in AZ and delivered, again, to the other side of the border, simply go straight to the nearest water faucet to fill up their two gallons of water and walked an extra two hours farther than their last time they got caught, to try crossing a FIFTH time...

I've got to respect their persistence, their "whatever-it-takes" attitude, their "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again" mindset.

Quite frankly, we want these go-getters. The unemployment rate among undocumented workers is virtually zero: If you don't work, you don't eat.

[bean]

Here is a great video which puts a human face on this problem.
Simple solution: give these kids a work permit. Period.
http://www.upworthy.com/why-honor-studen...-jail?rc=i

[Ricardo]

"Remember that you were aliens in the house of Egypt." Leviticus 9:34